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Raul Emmenson
Raul Terry Emmenson is a half-elven member of the Union Workers who lost his home town Steelfall in a demon raid. He has sworn to avenge the destruction of the town. He ended up becoming one of the Dresdens and has collaborated with the Magicracy of Alent and the Grand Alliance every now and then. He led the Fellowship of Hidefall to Malperdy to help save Haruko Mizushima, but after the treachery he witnessed there, he grew more disillusioned and returned to Hidefall to co-ordinate the Union in its war against the Crimson Coalition as well as change the Union's organization from within. Biography Early Years Raul Emmenson was born as a half-elf and became part of a militia in his youth, in a small supply town called Steelfall in Libaterra. His parents hadn't ever been seen, because Raul was left as a toddler inside a local temple asleep. He has no vivid memory of them other than they were running from something in regards to the law. During his time he got acquainted with and joined the Union Workers, a loose and rather large guild of thieves. After being with the small militia long enough to learn how to properly handle blades in a basic sense, he did some missions for the Union in the ensuing years, exploring forgotten ruins and getting entangled with assassinations and other clandestine operations. He eventually rose to the position of master thief in the Union and befriended several members of the Assembly, the Union's leaders, in the thief city of Hidefall. Once he had spent a few years working for the Union, he decided to head for Alent where he hoped to learn magic from the few wizards of the Union who were working there in secret. During these years Raul grew close to fellow thieves Tara Merrier and Madeline Emmenson, the latter of whom he eventually married. Their marriage was blissful for a few years until thieves from the Union's Thistle Grove cell got Madeline addicted to a potent drug which periodically turned her hostile. Since then Raul and Madeline have duked it out in a yearly duel during which various thieves and lowlives and even some respectable mages bet on whether Raul's going to survive Madeline's attacks or not. Despite this Raul has sworn to make the treacherous thieves pay for corrupting his wife, and he hopes to find a cure for Madeline's addiction someday. After years of study under the Union wizards, Raul was able to learn basic illusion spells and much raw theory before he had to leave in 1017 AE because he had heard word that Steelfall, the small town he had grown up in, had burned to the ground in a raid by the Northern Horde. After confirming this he vowed to help people who oppose the hordes, and find other survivors of his home, while perfecting his abilities to eventually be able to make a difference against the demon hordes. Godslayer Era The Point of No Return Raul returned to Alent after he had heard that the Sarquil refugees and a small group of representatives from the Grand Alliance had camped near the city. He was troubled to hear gossip that the demons of the Northern Horde had taken over Vanna, the Sarquil capital, which meant that a full-scale demon invasion of Central Libaterra would take place soon. He decided to seek out prominent members of the Alliance, hoping to join their cause and fight against the demons while doing his best to aid the Union in any way possible. He found out that Razoul, captain of the Black Guard, was organizing a rescue party to go after one of the Black Guards who had recently been kidnapped from the city. Raul volunteered to accompany the group which also included a girl named Rain, a strong warrior named Vitani, the lizardman Xolkai, and a few other Black Guards such as Ahmed. He pretended to be a simple-minded but good-hearted fool who just wanted to help people in need, but in actuality he hoped to observe these Alliance people and see what they were capable of. The party eventually located the missing Black Guard who turned out to not be a Black Guard at all but an elven necromancer who had been posing as a guard before he'd been captured. The party succeeded in subduing the kidnapper, a paladin named Aluette, but were soon ambushed by another force which had members of the Clergy of Nergal, allies of the Alliance's rival Crimson Coalition. A battle ensued during which several Black Guards lost their lives, including Ahmed. Aluette slipped away in the chaos. The party learned that the necromancer they had come to save was called Razravkar Dominus. Raul's prowess in battle and his use of cunning eventually gave him away as Razoul confronted him about having lied who he was. After a bit of hesitation Raul confessed he'd been deceiving the group and revealed his name as well as his reason for having sided with them. Although the party was somewhat distrustful of Raul because of his deception, they didn't have much time to think about it as night fell. Realizing that if any other Coalition scouts wandered into the territory, they'd catch the party in its injured state and capture them or worse. Razravkar in particular needed medical attention. The party decided to enter the nearby Celenian Forest where they'd spend the night until they'd return to Alent in the morning. However, while in the forest, the party was ambushed by elven rangers led by a lieutenant named Geras Sylevar. They found out that they had entered a sacred elven realm where no outsiders were allowed, and they were arrested for trespassing and could never leave the forest alive to preserve its secrets. Realizing that the elves outnumbered them, the party had no choice but to surrender and follow Sylevar and his rangers to the elven capital of Illunii. Fool's Errand The party reached Illunii, and Raul did his best to secretly start sketching the city which he'd never been in before. He noted how badly defended the city was and that it'd be possible for the Union to infiltrate it sometime in the future in case the Union needed intel on the elves. They were escorted to nearby houses where they'd stay in as the elves' prisoners until they were summoned to the Eternal Court which would decide their fates. While there, they met with two other captives, a paladin named Nesa Mikoto and a white mage named Unithien Greyrain who also turned out to be members of the Alliance who had been travelling north until the elves had captured them too. Nesa advised the group to be patient because sooner or later the court would summon them. He also suggested that they should prepare an escape plan if things turned nasty; whatever the court decided, Nesa was adamant that he would not remain the elves' prisoner for the rest of his days. While Razravkar remained behind to get proper treatment for his wounds, the rest of the party was eventually summoned to the house of a local noble named Thanatos Barca who knew that they wanted to leave the forest alive. He made them a deal: he'd help sway the court to let them go, but in exchange the party would have to bring back his missing daughter Persephone Barca who had last been seen in Etheril. Having not much of a choice, the party agreed to Thanatos's terms. The party was then escorted to the Eternal Court which consisted of elven nobles and Faerfolc lords named Domnhull and Morrigan. True to his word, Thanatos spoke for the party, convincing the lords and ladies to spare the group in exchange for them helping gather intel on whether the Crimson Coalition was using a rogue fey Curdardh in its forces near Etheril or not. Several party members, including Raul, spoke to the court too in a rather vehement manner, and it was only thanks to Thanatos's silky words that the group wasn't executed then and there. To ensure that the party would not stray from its mission, the Faerfolc cast a geas on them to compel them to do what they'd been told, or else the spell would kill them. The party was escorted out of the forest and began a trip to Etheril. It was during this time that Raul finally revealed more about his connections to the Union and how he was one of its prominent members, high masters. He succeeded in helping the group sneak into the city which by now had fallen to the Coalition's occupation force, and they entered the Union's secret hideout in the city where they'd hear recent reports on the Union's activities and also learn what they could about the whereabouts of Curdardh and Persephone. During a strategy session in the hideout, the party and the local Union leaders were entertained by a Sinlarine woman called Deidra Finian who sang a beautiful song to them before she excused herself. Razravkar was suddenly troubled by something and excused himself as well, and Raul, noticing something wasn't right, sent some of his people to keep an eye on him. This turned out to be a wise move as the party soon learned that Deidra wasn't any ordinary performer but a spy who was a necromancer just like Razravkar, and the two had sensed each other's dark aura which had prompted Deidra to flee from the hideout before Razravkar could talk to her about her aura. A battle ensued, during which Deidra summoned two shades from an elven scepter which she broke to relelease the shades, and she also sent her manservant Pip to stall the thieves while she headed for the thieves' treasure room where she burned one of the ancient tomes for some reason. Thanks to the combined efforts of the thieves and the party, both Pip and Deidra were eventually caught after a harsh battle, and both were subjected to torture to find out what they'd been doing in the hideout. After a bit of interrogation, the party learned that Deidra had been targeted by assassins before and was working to decipher an ancient necromancer's prophecy which foretold great doom unless something was done. She claimed that the companion to the tome she had just burned was kept in the manor of Baron Jeremiah Seneron, a local merchant lord, where the Coalition's officers resided to plan their war strategies. During this time the party learned that Persephone was also somewhere in the manor, so they could kill seeral birds with one stone by infiltrating it: retrieve Persephone and the mysterious tome, and find out about the Coalition's plans and hopefully gather clues of whether Curdardh was involved in the Coalition's schemes or not. Raul led the party to the Seneron Manor where they eventually located Persephone, who had been held captive there. They also discovered some of the Coalition's plans and saved an imprisoned Alentian councillor Gweneth after Raul helped pick the lock of her magical cage. To ensure that the Coalition wouldn't retaliate, they kidnapped Baron Jeremiah Seneron and took him with them just to be on the safe side. They learned from Gweneth that Curdardh had indeed been working for the Coalition's general Leopold Lain and that it had been thanks to him that the Coalition had captured her in the first place. During this time Persephone revealed something alarming: she had in fact been on the run from her father Thanatos who was after the tomes which Deidra had mentioned for some purpose and that he had sent Deidra to retrieve her and the tomes to perform some dark ritual. This conflicted with Deidra's version of the story, so the party remained unsure which of the women to believe. Razravkar also revealed something: while he'd been recovering in Illunii, Thanatos's servant Jezebeth had approached him with an offer from Thanatos: Razravkar would discreetly locate and return Deidra and the tomes to Illunii and keep the rest of the party in the dark about it. One thing was for sure now: Thanatos had definitely not been telling the party the whole truth and was apparently using them to achieve some goal. The party would have to be careful from now on although it wouldn't be easy because Persephone seemed to despise Deidra who she claimed had seduced her father with her dark ways, while Deidra took Persephone's verbal abuse and seemed surprisingly calm despite being imprisoned. The party, which now included Deidra, Pip, Persephone, Gweneth and Jeremiah, decided to head out of Etheril before the Coalition would find out about the people they had retrieved from the manor. At the same time Major Vladimir Putin, one of Leopold's underlings, began a campaign to wipe out the Union from Etheril. The party barely evaded capture and expressed worry for the thieves of Etheril, but Raul reassured them that his companions from the Union could take care of themselves. They fled to a nearby Union camp while on the way to the Celenian Forest and talked to Deidra and Persephone a bit more to learn what exactly was going on, but once again the women's stories differed so much that it was unsure whose version was real or if both of them were lying. They managed to sway Deidra to help them when they mentioned that Thanatos might be up to something bad; although Deidra couldn't believe it, she was still willing to investigate the matter. Raul was the one who trusted the women least, and he kept calling them with derogative nicknames such as using "seductowench" on Deidra. With help from both Deidra and Persephone, the party finally learned the contents and the ominous words of the Necromancer's Prophecies which, much to their horror, seemed to talk about their party members even though the prophecy had been written millennia ago. It became apparent that they would play a huge role in whatever was going to happen soon, so they'd have to prepare for trickery on Thanatos's end and outwit him once they returned to Illunii and hopefully prevent whatever disaster was looming on the horizon. However, once they'd resupplied and left, a strange mist fell on the party, and they were soon attacked by big creatures called dire wolves. The party fought against them and eventually faced the wolves' master who was none other than Curdardh. It turned out Leopold had found out about the party infiltrating the manor in Etheril and had sent the fey to wipe them out and likely retrieve Gweneth, Persephone and Jeremiah. A desperate battle ensued, but Curdardh was too powerful to beat. It was eventually thanks to the combined necromantic powers of Razravkar, Deidra, and Persephone that the party managed to open a portal to the Land of the Dead which they entered with Curdardh following them. While in the realm of the dead, the party was attacked by psychic visions from the dead which nearly drove them insane. Eventually the party managed to get a hold of itself and managed to leave the realm, closing the portal to the Land of the Living behind them before Curdardh could reach them. Thus they managed to trap the fey lord to the Land of the Dead with no way of escape and had managed to neutralize the threat with the use of cunning and a bold strategy. They returned to the forest and Illunii safely where they were taken to the manor of Thanatos Barca who invited them to a feast now that they had retrieved Persephone and Deidra safely. The conversations were pleasant enough but awkward because the party was now aware of Thanatos having a hidden agenda. Raul tried to accuse the elven lord in his own snarky way, only for Thanatos to start losing his cool and accusing the party of being ingrateful despite him saving their lives from the court earlier. It was then that Razravkar noticed the strange garlic hanging on the walls an suddenly blurted out that Thanatos was in fact Drishnek, a scheming lich he had faced earlier in Alent. This somewhat out of context phrasing turned out to have big consequences: Thanatos's very face seemed to crumble all of a sudden, revealing a bony mask behind it, which seemed to confirm that Thanatos was in fact the lich in disguise. At the same time Deidra sprung to action with help from Pip who turned into the demon Philos. The duo captured Persephone and fled to Thanatos's laboratory much to everyone's surprise but not before Deidra left two more shades for the party to deal with. As if that wasn't enough, the angered Thanatos ordered his rangers, including Sylevar, to deal with the party who had messed up his plan and caused this chaos. Razravkar and Raul eventually managed to follow Deidra, Philos and Persephone to the laboratory where they saw Deidra preparing to apparently sacrifice Persephone in a dark necromantic ritual. They also saw one of Thanatos's servants, Naga, goading Deidra to do so while the other servant, Jezebeth, pleaded for Razravkar and Raul to help save Persephone before it was too late. Raul kept out of sight and, using a clever strategy with Razravkar, managed to shoot a dart full of poison at Naga who fell instantly before using the opening to run for Deidra while Philos and Thanatos fought against one another. Razravkar and Raul cut Deidra down, killing her in the process, and saved Persephone who was grateful for their help. At the same time Thanatos managed to elude Philos and reached Persephone, embracing him, which seemed weird because Drishnek shouldn't be related to Persephone at all according to what Razravkar had told Raul. It was then the two men witnessed how they'd been played and who the real masterminds of this plot had been when Naga suddenly rose up and turned into a snake-like demon; she had only pretended to have fainted from poison in order to goad the duo to fight Deidra. At the same time Persephone stabbed Thanatos through the heart, revealing that him being "Drishnek" had only been an elaborate illusion to fool Razravkar into acting recklessly. Jezebeth joined the female trio and revealed herself to be their leader and an agent of the demonic Eastern Horde as she turned into a voluptuous succubus. With their villainous revelation out of the way, the trio pointed at a portal which began opening: Razravkar and Raul had helped trigger a spell which would open a portal to the Demon Realm through which the demons could invade Illunii at ease. Deidra hadn't intended to sacrifice Persephone: she had merely tried to heal her with an elaborate Sinlarine ritual, and the reason she had acted so erratically was that Naga had planted a mental switch on her when Deidra had been held captive in the Union hideout earlier. It had all been an elaborate scheme from the Eastern Horde to use Raul and Razravkar's party to get what they wanted. It was only thanks to Philos's sacrifice that Raul and Razravkar managed to flee to warn their comrades about the treachery of Naga, Persephone and Jezebeth. Raul and Razravkar were very annoyed, having been tricked into a honey trap which had been so obvious now that they thought about it. They eventually reached their companions and managed to regroup before returning to the laboratory to stop the villainous trio's plan and hopefully close the portal before demons could invade en masse. After a lengthy battle during which Naga turned into a giant snake, the party succeeded in thwarting the Eastern Horde's plans with help from the shades of Thanatos and Deidra who had seen the error of their ways and seemingly sacrificed their ghostly essences to close the portal while Jezebeth was sucked into the portal too. Although the party succeeded in subduing the weakened Persephone, the threat was not over yet, though, even though the rangers led by Sylevar had now realized they'd been played by demons too. An infernal orb found near the laboratory came to life, revealing a stunningly beautiful red-haired demoness in it: she was Duchess Nina Heeate L'andariel who had sent Jezebeth's group to Illunii. Nina gloated that while the heroes had been busy thwarting the invasion, her other minion had already retrieved her true objective to her: an elven scepter just like the one Deidra had used in Etheril. She thanked the heroes for serving as amusement, but it quickly became apparent that she had only gloated to stall the party long enough to blow up the orb magically and make Naga prevent them from escaping the collapsing manor. However, due to the combined efforts of the party, they barely managed to slice their way through Naga's bloated body and escaped just in time for the manor to collapse. Although they'd defeated the villainous trio and thwarted the demon invasion plans, Nina had still gotten what she wanted in the end, which annoyed several members who felt dirty having been outgambitted by the archdemon. The party was summoned to the Eternal Court which was grateful for having thwarted the demons' plans. The curse on them was lifted, and they were allowed to leave. Sylevar was promoted as Captain thanks to his assistance, and Persephone was put in jail for her crimes. Raul, however, was asked to leave the sketch he'd made of Illunii behind because no maps would be allowed to leave the forest. Raul was annoyed by this but did what he was told, figuring out that he could replicate the map in his head and draw it later on another parchment if needed. They left the forest, their goal now to return Gweneth to Alent and take the Coalition-aiding Baron Jeremiah to the Alentian dungeons where the baron would be interrogated to find out what the Coalition was planning. While travelling through the forest, the party discussed the contents of the Necromancer's Prophecy and realized that although they had thwarted it for now, the prophecy specifically stated that what had happened in Illunii was only the beginning and more dangers loomed on the horizon. Defiler's Touch More info later. Day of the Damned Raul hurried to Reign on horseback after he'd found out that Razravkar had fled there. More info later. A Cry in the Dark More info later. Deceiver's Gambit More info later. Heart of Darkness After having spent the night as the Coalition's "guests", the fellowship was summoned to dine with none other than Hannibal Losstarot in the morning. The young Losstarot explained to the group how they, thanks to letting Janus and the other kidnappers flee with Haruko's twins who held the gods within, were now in debt to the Coalition and would have to pay them back by serving them. Raul objected to the arrangement but ultimately had to concede as he realized the fellowship was simply outmatched in its present, divided state. Raul was picked to deliver a message to the Union higher-ups: the Union was to withdraw its forces back to its base and begin a policy of non-interference in matters concerning the ongoing war between the Coalition and Alent, and they'd be allowed to live. Failure to obey would lead to the total extermination of the Union for the crimes it had committed to the Coalition. Raul and Sara had no choice but to obey the Coalition for now, so they agreed to the harsh terms. Once the meeting had concluded and most of the fellowship members were allowed to leave Trinity Gask to carry out their individual tasks for the Coalition, Raul and Sara purchased horses and set out to Hidefall. They didn't even say farewells to Haruko who was now imprisoned by the Coalition; Haruko's betrayal and revelation in Malperdy was still weighing heavily on their minds, and they blamed themselves for having fallen into such an obvious honey trap. On the way to their home, the duo came across Razravkar and another necromancer Spector Drakai who were surrounded by what appeared to be knights. When Raul and Sara tried to intervene, they were "arrested" too by these people who turned out to be the Grey Guards, some of whom had accompanied them to Malperdy earlier. Raul pondered why such a large group of knights and assassins could camp so close to the Coalition's capital, and he suspected something more was going on here than met the eye. Once they got into the camp, they met with the guards' leader Helena the Grey who was revealed to be the mother of Arcturius. When Raul learned how harshly Helena had treated and was still treating Arcturius, he stood up for the young bard in his own snarky way while making sure not to anger Helena too much because there were simply too many Grey Guards to handle. After Helena had interrogated the group about what they'd been doing in Malperdy, the group was allowed to leave. Razravkar hurried out of the camp while Raul addressed Arc one last time with encouraging words before he and Sara departed as well. They offered Spector a chance to ride with them at least until they were a safe distance from the camp, and Spector agreed, hopping behind Raul's horse. They failed to catch up with Razravkar who had already vanished into the vast wilderness ahead, however, so they continued the trek towards Hidefall while looking for a good spot to drop off Spector. Once they had left the young necromancer on his own, Raul and Sara headed for Hidefall. After they had settled in, they could finally mourn the passing of Tara Merrier. Once they had given her her due, Raul began formulating a plan to enter the inner circle and change the Union from within while getting rid of any leader whose incompetence would threaten the Union's survival. Raul asked Sara to team up with Dreanne Bark and sent them on a mission while he began making his move to shake things up in Hidefall. Despair's Wake More info later. Aliases and Nicknames ; Em : Tara's affectionate nickname for Raul. ; Derrick Morgan : Raul's most recent alias. ; Raul : What he is called. ; Strange Man : The moniker that Nyanna Mikoto has adopted for Raul in absence of knowing his name. ; Terence Eastcourt : One of his aliases. ; Terry : His middle name, and he's very embarrassed about it, which is why very few know it. Appearance Tall and gaunt, with long dark blond hair that falls around his face, and weathered skin. Stands to a full 5'9", sharp green eyes. Personality and Traits Obfuscating stupidity, hides his intelligence most of the time, kind, but rather snarky. Can be brutal depending on the circumstances although his time in the Alliance has mellowed him down a bit. Powers and Abilities He is quite adept at deceiving people with his tricks and daggers. He also has encyclopedic knowledge of cons, lockpicking, infiltration, and various trap engineering skills. Has been trained in psychology politicking, to varying success. Relationships Madeline Emmenson Raul and Madeline loved each other very much until one day a master thief from the Thistle Grove cell got her addicted to a drug, which periodically turns Madeline hostile to Raul. Whenever not under the influence of the drug, she gets along with Raul well but the rest of the time she's doing her best to kill him. Raul is searching for a way to free her from the drug and punish the master thief responsible. Since then Raul was conflicted between his feelings for Madeline and Tara. He has now resolved to himself that Madeline is lost, and Raul will be more willing to use lethal force to free her from the mental degredation she has been suffering for so long. Nesa Mikoto At first Raul was disgusted by Nesa's "knight in shining armour" routine but once he got to know Nesa and his daughter Nyanna, he has softened up a bit and, although it's hard for him to admit it, he's starting to like heroics and does what he can to help Nesa and Nyanna. Razravkar Dominus Raul warmed up to Razravkar rather quickly once he learned that the necromancer wasn't bound by morals as much as other people in the Alliance. Since then he's sworn to aid Razravkar whom he considers a comrade, going even so far as to travel to Reign after him once he learned that Razravkar had fled there from Alentian authorities. Unithien Grayrain Raul thinks of Unithien as a rare optimist and pities her for her devotion to the corrupt Cardian church. He has also sworn to protect her and Nyanna on the request of Nyanna's father, Nesa Mikoto. Raul thinks of Unithien as an ally, and he's even starting to think of her as a friend. Tara Merrier Raul loved Tara who had served with him in the Union. After leaving a thief fortress near Etheril, he didn't initally know if she's alive or dead, simply that she was to lead a dangerous operation agaist the Coalition army. Raul was conflicted between his feelings for Tara and his wife Madeline and decided to dedicate himself to Tara. However, by the time he returned to Hidefall, he learned that Tara had perished on a recent mission in Coalition lands. See also *Dresdens *Fellowship of Hidefall *Madeline Emmenson *Sara Merrier *Tara Merrier *Union Workers Category:Characters Category:Dresdens Category:Fellowship of Hidefall Category:Libaterra Category:Mixed Ancestry Category:Third Age Category:Union Workers